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10 Years After 9/11, Is America A Better Place?

By Michael Snyder, on September 5th, 2011

What is the true legacy of 9/11? Unfortunately, it may be how the American people have responded to that event. 10 years after 9/11, is America a better place? Sadly, the answer clearly is no. In the ten years that have passed, a fundamental shift in our culture has occurred. The American people have eagerly given up large amounts of liberty and freedom in exchange for vague promises of increased security. We were once the land of the free and the home of the brave, but now we are the land of the scared and the home of the slave and we seem to like it that way. Most of us don’t even remember how to act like Americans anymore. American culture has moved so far in the direction of communist China, the USSR and Nazi Germany that it is absolutely frightening. When most of us were growing up, we were taught that the enemies of America were “totalitarian police states” that did not give liberties and freedoms to their people. Well, today nearly everything that we do is watched, monitored, tracked and tightly controlled. 10 years after 9/11, the American people are living in fear, the federal government is run by control freaks and paranoia has become standard operating procedure. What we have allowed to happen to this nation is absolutely shameful.

Do you enjoy living in a police state?

I don’t.

Once upon a time, the police were generally friendly and trustworthy. You actually wanted to know police officers and be friends with them.

But today, police in most areas of the country are deeply feared, and for good reason. They are actually taught to be brutal and authoritarian.

All of this comes from the very top. Prior to 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security, “VIPR teams”, the Patriot Act, body scanners, “enhanced pat-downs” and “fusion centers” didn’t even exist.

A fundamental shift has taken place in America, and it is almost as if a severe mental illness has infected nearly the entire law enforcement community in this country.

The “big black boot” that was supposedly going to keep us all safe is actually destroying this country and everything that it means to be an American.

The following are some questions that you should ask anyone who believes that America has responded to 9/11 in a positive way….

Is America a better place when all of us (including grandmothers and young children) must either go through a body scanner that reveals the intimate details of our naked bodies or endure an “enhanced pat-down” during which our genitals will be touched in order to get on an airplane?

Is America a better place now that TSA “VIPR teams” conduct approximately 8,000 “unannounced security screenings” a year at subway stations, bus terminals, seaports and highway rest stops? Should “out-of-nowhere” security sweeps by thugs in black uniforms at transportation centers and public events just be accepted as “the new normal” in America?

Is America a better place now that the Patriot Act allows the federal government to secretly conduct surveillance on innocent American citizens, monitor the electronic communications of innocent American citizens and conduct warrantless searches of the homes of innocent American citizens?

Is America a better place now that the federal government has a “secret interpretation” of the Patriot Act that they won’t even release to the general public? How can we possibly follow their rules if they won’t even tell us what they are expecting of us?

Is America a better place when the federal government is so paranoid that it feels that it must issue “talking points” instructing government officials what to say about the 10th anniversary of 9/11?

Is America a better place when young schoolchildren in New Jersey are being taught to snitch on their classmates and police are being used to crack down on “bullying activity” in public schools?

Is America a better place when the federal government is so paranoid that they spend millions of dollars encouraging us all to spy on one another? The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign looks like it could have been pulled right out of an East German security handbook.

Is America a better place when you must submit a “crop plan” and have your garden inspected by bureaucrats before you can participate in certain farmers markets?

Is America a better place now that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending huge amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools all over the nation so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating?

Is America a better place now that lemonade stands run by young children all over the nation are being shut down by police?

Is America a better place now that FBI surveillance teams regularly employ warrantless GPS tracking to monitor the movements of peaceful activists – even if they are not suspected of ever committing a crime?

Is America a better place now that the NSA gathers an amount of information on all of us equivalent to the entire Library of Congress every six hours?

The sad truth is that America is not a better place after 9/11. We have betrayed our founding fathers and we have cast aside many of our liberties and freedoms because we are so afraid that we can’t even see straight.

Fortunately, a growing number of Americans is actually waking up. More Americans than ever are tired of being treated like garbage and this is starting to be reflected in recent polling. For example, according to a new Gallup poll an all-time record 63 percent of Americans have a negative view of the federal government.

Hopefully we will start to see a cultural shift back in the direction of increased liberty and freedom.

If not, we are in for a total nightmare. If we continue on the path that we are on, this nation is going to become an absolutely horrific place in which to live.

Michael, this article is right on target. We have lost much of our freedom. I live 12 miles outside of a small town of about three thousand. I do not think we have the cameras all over yet. That is one good thing about a town without much money. I must say when we drive to larger towns or cities the cameras are alive and well. This is what happens as our welfare state continues to grow. People think that Uncle Sam will always be there for them. Wake up America, vote the control freak progresives out of power.

Colin

“A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress’s generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.”

This is from an article by Mike Lofgren, a Republican Congressional Staffer. Here is the article:

I see our country as a woman. She has been stripped of her clothing and her dignity. The butchers hang her from a pole, and with their knives, they begin slicing her skin. They will continue until she dies. To me, this is what the Republicans are doing to our country.

I know that many of you will picture the Democrats in this role. I, also, know that you hate me. So, I don’t expect better of you, and you shouldn’t expect better of me.

J. C. Vaughan

Just one question: why the hell would anyone hate you, unless you have actually done something worth hating you for? Even then, it would make more common sense to hate what you have done, and not you especially.

http://www.planorperish.com Gutter Economist

If you think that America is bad now, wait until after the next terrorist attack:

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 – allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 – allows the government to seize and control the communication media.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 – allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 – allows the government to seize all means of transportation, including personal cars, trucks or vehicles of any kind and total control over all highways, seaports, and waterways.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10999 – allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 – allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 – allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 – designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 – allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 – allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 – allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 – specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921– allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has broad powers in every aspect of the nation. General Frank Salzedo, chief of FEMA’s Civil Security Division stated in a 1983 conference that he saw FEMA’s role as a “new frontier in the protection of individual and governmental leaders from assassination, and of civil and military installations from sabotage and/or attack, as well as prevention of dissident groups from gaining access to U.S. opinion, or a global audience in times of crisis.” FEMA’s powers were consolidated by President Carter to incorporate the…

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 – grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12148 – created the Federal Emergency Management Agency to interface with the Department of Defense for civil defense planning and funding. An “emergency czar” was appointed. FEMA has only spent about 6 percent of its budget on national emergencies. The bulk of their funding has been used for the construction of secret underground facilities to assure continuity of government in case of a major emergency, foreign or domestic.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12656 – appointed the National Security Council as the principal body that should consider emergency powers. This allows the government to increase domestic intelligence and surveillance of U.S. citizens and would restrict the freedom of movement within the United States and grant the government the right to isolate large groups of civilians. The National Guard could be federalized to seal all borders and take control of U.S. air space and all ports of entry.

Mac Wilson

If this list of executive orders is true, what a terrible life ahead for the survivors.
Michael, thank you for your articles — I visit nearly every day to see what’s new. :-) These ARE interesting times!

Michael

Thank you Mac!

Yes, we definitely do live in exciting times. Things are going to be incredibly difficult, but at least things will not be boring. :)

thank heavens. I feel safer already. If the government had done this years ago,they would have been able to help those poor unfortunate people in Katrinaland.

D

America, and all other industrialized nations, are falling like perfectly placed dominos. The USA will continue to decline into oblivion, just like the other powerhouses. Soon, a one-world government will be proposed.

9-11 was nothing more than a planned catastrophe to make American citizens angry at the Middle East, which eased the transition and reason to send troops there. No one wants to believe it.

SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE

SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE SAY’S IT ALL!!!!

http://endoftheamericandream Brian Dougan

Michael,

Please excuse my out-of-context question: If you don’t mind telling; where was the photo taken at the top of your website? It’s so apropos to “The End of the American Dream.”

Thank you anyway if the location must remain confidential.

Michael

Brian:

Actually it is something that my wife put together. She is much better with graphics than I am.

Michael

Guido

Google something like, “photos of Detroit” and you can find those houses, along with a whooole lot of other disturbing pictures of urban decay.

William

America is much, much worse off today than on 12 Sept 2001. As noted, America has become much more of a police state where criminals carrying a badge and a gun totally ignore the US Constitution. And, for ten years, the majority of the American citizens REFUSE to look at the facts of 911 which clearly show that very high levels of the US government and Israel were the real attackers on that day.

mydogsays, where did you get this list? I’d be interested in a link, if you have one. Thanks.

TR

I’m an American. The TRUTH,I can’t handle the TRUTH.
Is this whole country in DENIAL?

http://fttusa.org 1amWendy

Brilliantly stated.

http://lastdayrapture.blogspot.com/ TK

There hasn’t been much talk about this subject lately.

It is almost as if the American people have been conditioned to give up their freedoms on command. I blame public schools for brain washing several generations to comply with all commands.

I also blame Americans as a whole for being lazy. If this would have happened 100 years ago, the government would have been overthrown by the sheer force of Mad Americans!

Will it change? I can not predict the future, but, I think it will get worse. A whole lot worse. Most Americans could care less as long as they have what they want. Caring only about self has ruined this country.

While it may be true that 63 percent “quote”
“unquote” “disapprove” of the federal gov’t, the question then becomes, what, if anything, will they do about it? Voting a control freak republican into power to get rid of the control freak democrat will not solve anything. Knowing the nature of humans it is crystal clear that the whole society must completely collapse before they understand the tenets of freedom and liberty and get back to those. Sad to say, as Rod Serling put it, at the signpost up ahead, more pain and misery coming from the
“Twilight Zone”…………

A Dodgy Bloke

Somebody once said (I’m paraphrasing) “A people who are willing to trade freedom for security deserve neither”. That is the BRA of today you see theses Lemmings saying “Well their (Insert favorite federal law enforcement agency here) keeping us safe”. I just want to howl there is no such thing as total 100% air tight security, but the avenge American is too freaking stupid to understand that.
If you are willing to surrender your freedom for the illusion of security then you deserve the horrible things that will happen to you, just ask the ten million who died under uncle Joe Stalin, how safe where they.

Guido

I want to say it was Churchill, but I also believe Franklin said something to the effect that those who trade freedom for security deserve neither.

Stephen Byerly

The quote is one by Ben Franklin. He said “a man who will trade liberty for security deserves neither and will lose both,” and he couldn’t be more correct.

Michael, I applaud your work. But I must ask you what you recommend we do about this madness. Obviously it will take more than just one man to stop it completely, but what do you suggest for the average man? Anyone else with suggestions can respond as well

Guido

Give the man a cigar!

Desmosabie

Bullshit, do something constructive, spreading this kind of crap is destructive, you’re another Osama Bin Laden.

ScoutMotto

Yes, it’s destructive, but only destructive for the lies supported by the government, and by folks like yourself who don’t want to know the truth. You’re part of the problem, Des.

Guido

Care to elaborate? Because the author was good enough to cite every point for you to read and prove/disprove. You’re wayyy out of touch-OBL and Muslim extremists would rather silence debate, not start it. There are worse things than asking people to consider the world they live in.

http://lastdayrapture.blogspot.com/ TK

Whoa Now, You got it all wrong Desmosabie.

What this blog does is spread the truth you will not hear in the main stream, and hopefully awake a few people before it is too late.

Did you even read the whole article?

hbeachrealist

Bullshit back to you. Go do your homework.

WTC 7 didn’t just fall on its own.

ScoutMotto

I want to smack the next person who tells me that the U.S. is still the best country on the planet. I’m tired of people’s denial about the condition of our country. I’m tired of people making excuses for the personal federal income tax, and the host of other taxes we are extorted to pay. So many of all ages have no clue that we are funding our own destruction. It’s time this came to a halt!

Guido

I once heard someone say we should stockpile questions, not weapons, because questions will be what brings the system down like a house of cards. Boy, I wish I could cite that a little better…

If our criminal government is allowed to get away with murdering 3,000 Americans in order to have wars for profit that kills millions on Middle East citizens, then the shit will hit the fan in the United States of America.

You know they will have a few more false flags in the near future.

Imran

It’s a complete myth that you were ever the “land of the free or home of the brave”, these qualities are not national but individual ones! You do not have a divine right to be brave where as your idea of freedom is free sex, gambling and everything else associated with immorality!

You went into Iraq and Afghanistan without any knowledge of their culture or history thinking it would be an easy victory! These Afghanis are masters of war and have defeated great former powers like the British, India and old USSR, now you’re begging them to negotiate but they’re not interested!. On the other side sits an increasingly angry nuclear Pakistan who is America’s worst nightmare!

9/11 has actually gone completely against the USA with your economy being on its knees and these new laws bought in that oppress in every way. Regularly you are being subjected to new measures that will eventually turn you into machines.

9/11 was an inside job that will sooner or later be exposed because the truth always wins. The USA needed an excuse to make war in the middle east in order to further it’s own agenda but the whole thing has backfired! There will be hell to pay when the truth comes out for you have swallowed far more then you can chew! The coming world war 3 will make you people suffer like there is no tomorrow.

JD

I was 21 when 9/11 happened. Ten years later our beautiful country is in economic ruins and is a shadow of her former self. Oh get ready for nightmare on Wall Street Part 4. I just heard the european markets tanked over the weekend Im betting we see a 600 point drop when the markets open tomorrow. Good. I want this economy to get so bad that they cant afford to build more prisons, hire more cops, put up new security cameras. I never thought of myself thinking anarchist thoughts but I hate the system. They dont make us safer. Im almost scared to write a response on the computer. I wonder if Big Brother really is watching us. Please be careful Michael. I dont want to be cellmates with you in a FEMA camp. Were too good for that.

Guido

There’s always cash for that kind of stuff. Security is always funded.

JD

You guys C’mon. Pissed off Muslim terrorists flew those planes into the towers. Get a clue and grow a brain. I do think the Government had knowledge beforehand about the terror plot and was incompentent in responding to it. Bush was on NatGeo the other night. He didnt look like he was hiding anything to me. The man wasnt the smartest peanut in the turd but why the hell would he plant explosives in the towers? Why didnt any of the office workers being evactuated see a bunch of Navy Seals planting C4 on their way out? What about the heroes of flight 93? Were those white guys with fake tans flying the plane they tried to take back? I think its disrespectful to the people who died to treat them as a pawn in some NWO plot to get us into war. Make no mistake Islam is a religion of warfare written by a pedophile who was under constant attack by the people he tried submit to his phony cause. God hates a vacumum. America has become a godless country that raise up the perverts and trashes the good folks for doing the right thing. When you have shows like toddlers and tiaras and the newest celebrity drunk slut puking on herself and being held up as a role model you can understand why the terrorists call us the Great Satan. They want to either convert us or kill us. Get a clue. BTW, I think the reasons for the war in Iraq was total bullshit. We should of finished off in Afganistan then if anyone else wanted to step up then we should of kicked their ass! I have lots of veteran friends and family God Bless all of them for their sacrifices. They do the jobs that no one else will do including illegal aliens. I love the vets and when TSHTF I hope I can get them to join me.

hbeachrealist

Your the one that needs a brain.

Can you please explain to me how WTC 7 came down?

El Pollo de Oro

9/11 was an enormous victory for al-Qaeda because the neocons of the George W. Bush regime responded just as the Islamo-terrorists hoped they would: they trashed the Constitution, lied us into war, bullied our European allies, ran up record deficits, and turned the former USA into a Third World banana republic. Of course, many spineless Democraps knuckled under like the cowards they are. But there were a few patriots, especially Ron Paul, who stood up to the tyrannical ex-Trotskyist neocons throughout the Bush years—and he still stands up to them in 2011. Ron Paul sees the Patriot Act for what it is: the document of the police state.

In 2007, I protested the evils of the Bush regime when I visited Paris and toasted the ultimate anti-neocon, anti-imperialist, anti-police state libertarian: Ron Paul. Neocons were saying, “Don’t go to France. They didn’t support the Iraq War,” which of course, was an excellent reason to visit France and support the French economy. And no, I didn’t fool around with any of those hookers on La Rue St. Denis, although they have higher standards than most American politicians.

Ten years after 9/11, this is no longer the once-great country I grew up in. It is a collapsing Third World hellhole ruled by a corrupt, thieving oligarchy. Neocons long for an empire, but their fantasy is unsustainable because The Banana Republic of America is headed for total collapse. A police state will only hasten the downfall of the BRA.

Nicholas

Author. China, the USSR and Nazi Germany – are different things.
I am writing from Russia. My parents and grandparents lived in the USSR.
And I want to say that the big brother sets the dictatorship
against which the USSR – an example of democracy and freedom.
Your U.S. government says that the Soviet Union – is bad.(The Russian government says the same thing)
But in Russia among the people, political scientists and historians debate about whether it was true or not.
Those who want to use the USSR for his experience to build the future and I agree with them.
In the USSR all had jobs, prices in stores were low, free education and medicine, the main thing was the quality.
There was a high level of culture
Although shortcomings were also
But once we made the economy “as in America” …
Now the work is small, the quality of education and health care is low, people become degraded and die …
What is happening now is more like Nazi Germany, and even worse …

Sorry for my English. I’m using a translator.

Pigbitin Mad

Instead of stamping out terrorism, the response to 9-11 has made a lot of americans want to become terrorists. It is simply too frustrating to watch our elected government argue endlessly about things that should be a no-brainer. I think we should split into two countries so that the intelligent people do not have to constantly be subject to the whims of the illiterate half (who vote for the Tea Party and constantly misunderstand the point of Ayn Rand and “socialism.”)

IT IS ALL BEYOND FRUSTRATING. And I knew back then that there was no way Saddam had the WMD. The inspectors certainly would have found them if they were there (because we seem to be able to get photos of a toenail from space). It was all a set up and George Bush is a liar/frat boy. I am wondering why, if I instinctively knew it, that half the congress couldn’t figure it out.

We should have just dropped an Atom Bomb on Tora Bora and finished with the whole thing.

Gay Veteran

“…How did this happen? Whose to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, if the truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense.

Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to…[President Bush]. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent obedient consent….”

quotes from the movie “V for Vendetta”

And now Obama is Bush’s third term. No one gets to the top of the American political heap without firmly believing in empire abroad and the national security/surveilance state at homel

JD

WTC 7 came down as the result of the towers falling. By using your logic how did the Marriot hotel fall down? It wasnt hit by the planes. It was located directly below the North and South towers. The debris destroyed that hotel. The towers were built out of floor trusses. In my former life,I used to build and design floor trusses. They have a certain weight load that they can carry. Once that weight load is reached, the floors will fail. Thats why they pancaked on top of each other much like a building that is purposely destroyed. Maybe they blew up WTC 7 because it was unsafe. Who knows for sure. But I do know FIRE CAN MELT STEEL!!!! Its called the Bessemer process. Open a book and open your mind.

Gil

Two glitches in your list are:

* Youtube guy is an “enemy combatant”? – actually yes giving aid and/or support for the enemy risks you becoming a traitor. Jane Fonda apparently came as close as one can for supporting the enemy yet not being a traitor though many servicemen think she should’ve been executed.

* Mass vaccinations? Oh noes! It’s much better to let the children’s immune systems handle diseases – those who don’t die or get crippled will in turn have stronger children – no “Idiocracy” here.

dorothy mannino

I would rather be free or believe I am free,Rather then the STATE telling me,us what we can or can not do.We do not need the Police State we have become!!

http://napoleonlive.info Jerry Frey

Like all Americans, I was shocked, stunned, and horrified by the Islamic attack on New York City, but not surprized. The sight of the jumpers remains the most horrible image I’ve ever seen; it still makes me sad. Jump or burn — give your soul to God.

you all just need to get over the stupid plane crash, its not like America is the only country where a terrorist even happend, let alone we bombed japans Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki. You don’t hear japans complaining about the deaths, are Americans so different from terrorists?

Jessica

I think all of this is perfectly fine. If we would have had all of these security measures back then, thousands of lives would have been saved.I don’t understand how people can be so selfish. People would prefer that we have none of these security measures but face the risk of 9/11 happening again, killing thousands of people. It is unfortunate that we have to live in a world where you can’t trust other people, but that IS the world we live in so we must adapt to do what is best for our country, which is protecting our citizens.